Thank you to the panel for this timely discussion.
We strongly condemn the military’s campaign of human rights violations, including credible reports of arbitrary arrests, torture and sexual violence. The military’s use of sexual violence to terrorise vulnerable populations is abhorrent.
600,000 people of the Rohingya community remain in Rakhine State following the military-led crackdown in 2017. Almost a quarter have been confined to IDP camps in central Rakhine for a decade. The Rohingya in Rakhine continue to face systemic discrimination; are denied citizenship, access to education and healthcare. Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law was created in such a way to exclude most Rohingya and other unrecognised groups from any form of citizenship. The process of enacting this law stripped them of their identity document, in effect, rendering them stateless and without rights. Restrictions on movement also leave Rohingya people vulnerable to traffickers.
We are deeply concerned about escalating tensions in Rakhine State including the risk of further atrocities. The UK will continue to call for de-escalation of violence, freedom of movement and unrestricted access to the Rohingya and other vulnerable groups in Myanmar.
To the panel,
What can the international community do regionally to address the high number of trafficking cases including of underage Rohingya girls for marriage?
How can we push for legislative reform of discriminatory provisions?
